Highly Pathogenic Bird Flu Case Confirmed In South Korea

South Korean authorities have just confirmed that breeding chickens in Chonan, 55 miles south of the capital Seoul, were infected with the highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus strain. This is the fifth outbreak in the country during the last three months.

Preparations are underway to cull over one-quarter of a million birds within half-a-kilometer of the farm, say officials from the Ministry of Agriculture. Measures to stem the spread of the virus also include a total restriction in the movement of birds and eggs within a 10 kilometer radius of the infected area.

Experts were surprised at this latest outbreak. Recently there had been an outbreak at Iksan, to the south of Chonan, where tens of thousands of birds had been culled. Emergency measures at Iksan had been thoroughly carried out. During the last three years over 1.2 million heads of poultry have been culled in South Korea.

Lab tests have revealed a virulent strain of the bird flu virus in bird droppings found at a reservoir about 13 miles from the infected farm in Chonan. Further tests will tell us whether it is the virulent H5N1 strain. If so, we could be looking at migratory birds as the source of the H5N1 bird flu spread.

-- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Rep. of Korea (in English)
-- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Rep. of Korea (in Korean)

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today